Rocky (Ultimate Knockout Collection): 4K UHD Review
Last Year Warner Bros. released the Rocky Knockout Collection on 4K UHD which included Rocky I-IV and the Rocky vs. Drago Director’s Cut. While it was definitely a solid release, it bugged me that it didn’t include Rocky V and Rocky Balboa (probably my second favorite film in the franchise). We all know that the fifth film is the weak link here, but to be honest, even as a lesser film, I still find it modestly enjoyable. Last month Warner Bros. dropped the Rocky Ultimate Knockout Collection, which finally gives us the complete series (if you don’t include the Creed films). This new collection includes eight Rocky films on six disks, with the seventh disk filled with bonus content.
1976’s Rocky was a surprise success and went on to win an Academy Award for Best Picture. Sylvester Stallone not only starred in the film, but he wrote it as well. He wrote Rocky for himself and refused to let any studio make it unless they let him play the title character. Obviously, Stallone’s refusal to budge on this, paid off, because the film made him and the character a household name and the actor would go on to be one of the biggest movie stars in the world.
The first Rocky is an underdog story, about a fighter from the streets of Philadelphia, who falls in love with the shy pet-store clerk Adrian (Talia Shire). He also gets a shot at fighting champion Apollo Creed (Carl Weathers). Sure, Rocky doesn’t win the fight, but he does win over the moviegoing public back in the 70s.
Rocky II is a good sequel, but its’ also the film that doesn’t stand-out as much in the franchise. It’s probably because it’s the only sequel in which Rocky fights the same opponent. When I think about the entire series, I keep forgetting about the events of the first sequel.
Rocky III and Rocky IV bring the character into the world of Hollywood blockbusters. When it comes to Rocky’s in-the-ring rivals, they don’t get much better or badder than Clubber Lang (Mr. T) and Ivan Drago (Dolph Lundgren). These two villainous fighters killed two of the most important people in Rocky’s life. Lang took out Balboa’s trainer, Mickey (Burgess Meredith) and Drago killed Apollo in the ring. Rocky was fighting more than just for himself in those films and the fight between Rocky and Ivan in Rocky IV remains the best in the entire series, even if the movie itself is like one big cartoon. I still prefer the theatrical cut over the Rocky vs. Drago Director’s Cut.
Rocky V is not very good, but I don’t believe that was the reason why it was such a box office disappointment. It opened the same day is Home Alone, which ruled the holiday season. I am not saying the fifth film would have been a big hit, but I think it would have done quite a bit better if it hadn’t gone up against such a juggernaut in 1990. I saw the same thing about Grease 2 when it opened the same day as E.T. in 1982. I think bringing Rocky back to the neighborhood he grew up in was a great idea. Sure, I wasn’t a fan of Tommy Gunn, but the narrative in Part V helped shape the direction of the excellent 2006 follow-up, Rocky Balboa.
Finally, we come to Rocky Balboa, which I remain a huge fan of. The Ultimate Knockout Collection not only includes the theatrical release, but for the first time, we get the Director’s Cut. Much like with Rocky IV, I feel the editing choices made for the theatrical release were for the most part the right ones. Except for an impactful scene with Burt Young’s Paulie, much of the additional footage feels like excess and unnecessary. Rocky Balboa also features some of the best monologues. Rocky delivers three of them here that really hit hard. One to Paulie, one to his son and one to the boxing commission. Stallone proves with his writing just how much he loves the characters in this world.
Each of the films are presented in Dolby Vision/ HDR-10 and while they are definite upgrades from the 1080p Blu-rays. To me, the films have never looked better. Surprisingly, the newest film in the series looks like the least improved, but it still manages to deliver a pretty strong video presentation. When the The Knockout Collection was released last year, it was saddled with multiple audio issues. Thankfully none of those issues are present here and I must note that WB did correct the issue last year and set up a replacement disk program.
If you are a fan of the Italian Stallion, this is a worthy set to ad to your collection. If you already own last year’s set, you can order Rocky V and Rocky Balboa as standalone disks.
Bonus Features:
Rocky
• Audio Commentary with director John Avidsen and producers Irvin Winkler and Robert Chartoff
• Audio Commentary with Lou Dua and Bert Sugar
• Audio Commentary with Sylvester Stallone
Rocky Balboa
• Audio Commentary with Writer/Director Sylvester Stallone
• Deleted Scenes
• Skill vs. Will: the Making of Rocky Balboa
• Reality in the Ringe: Filming Rocky’s Final Fight
• Virtual Champion: Creating the Computer Fighter
• Fight Makeup
Rocky 1-4 Bonus Disc
• 8MM Home Movies of Rocky
• 3 Rounds with Lou Duva
• Steadicam: Then and Now with Garrett Brown
• Make-Up! The Art and Form with Michael Westmore
• Staccato: A Composer’s Notebook with Bill Conti
• The Ring of Truth
• A Tribute to Burgess Meredith
• Stallone Meets Rocky
• The Making of “Rocky vs. Drago”: Keep Punching
• Trailers
By: Marc Ferman